ITS is planning to upgrade their uhunix2 system from a Sun
Enterprise 4000 to an Enterprise 4500 on June 4, 2001. The operating
system is also being upgraded from Solaris 2.6 to Solaris 8. Due to these
changes, ITS is in the process of determining what software to support on
the new system. In reviewing the current software on uhunix2, it
has been found that some of the older software packages are no longer
being supported by their vendor. Other software packages are no longer
being used on UH campuses, or have been made available on other platforms
through individual departments.

Please review the following list of programs slated for removal. If
you are still using any of these programs in your work, please e-mail
Naomi Okinaga or
Cara Kawano as soon as possible,
but no later than May 25, 2001. Please include a brief description of why
you need the program(s).

Improvements to University of Hawaii at Manoa Telephone Systemby Harry Morita

Improvements were made to the telephone system hardware at UH Manoa on
January 30-31, 2001. Our connection from the UHM telephone system to the
public switched network was upgraded from analog to digital trunking. As a
result of this change, external callers should experience faster connect
times when calling UH, there is an improvement in the sound quality of
calls, and limited Caller ID features are available.

To take advantage of the Caller ID feature, departments would have to
upgrade their telephones to Meridian 2317 display phones. There is an
additional recurring charge per month for this telephone. For more
information on Caller ID, including a list of
Frequently Asked
Questions, please refer to the ITS Telecommunications Web site at
www.hawaii.edu/telecom or call
ITS Telecommunications at 956-6033.

The Information Services section of ITS has undergone changes in
leadership and structure. Previous manager, Jodi Ito, has moved into the
position of Security Officer for the University of Hawaii, under ITS
Director, David Lassner. Hae Okimoto, Manager of Distance Learning and
Instructional Technology (DLIT), has assumed double duties and is now the
Manager of both DLIT and the restructured Information Services. The
combined section is now called Distributed Learning and User Services
(DLUS). With this reorganization, some changes are being made as we
continue in our effort to better serve you.

One of the first changes involves how we provide support services. If
you are having computer or network problems, your first action should be
to contact the ITS Help Desk by calling 956-8883, sending e-mail to help@hawaii.edu, or visiting Keller 105
on the UH Manoa campus. If the Help Desk cannot resolve the problem, it
will be forwarded to an Information Technology Specialist on our staff.
Previously, assignments were rotated among members of our support staff,
so you may have worked with a different person, depending on which day you
called. Now, each IT Specialist has been assigned to service specific
buildings (at UHM) or specific campuses. By organizing our staff in this
way, we hope that we can begin to establish a working relationship with
you, as well as recognize patterns of trouble calls. This will allow us
to be more proactive in our support. If your department or campus has
your own Information Technology Specialist(s), please continue to work
with them. Our role is to provide support for your IT specialists,
resulting in a truly integrated support structure.

Please e-mail Naomi Okinaga or
Hae Okimoto with your suggestions or
comments. We look forward to working together with you.

What is TALENT? TALENT is the ITS faculty development program established
to assist faculty use technology effectively in their courses. It uses a
course management tool called WebCT as the basis for faculty to put their
course online, or to enhance their traditional class.

The upcoming 2001 TALENT Summer Institute is comprised of two parts.
The first part, TALENT 101, engages faculty in a pedagogical discussion of
online teaching and learning via a WebCT online course. Once faculty
members successfully complete the course, they are then able to
participate in a face-to-face, hands-on workshop where they learn more
about the functions of WebCT and begin the actual work of creating their
own online course.

Who is eligible for TALENT? All fulltime faculty of the University of
Hawaii system are eligible to apply. The materials presented will be
useful to all faculty, whether they are planning on teaching a fully
online course or will be using Internet technologies to enhance their
traditional on-campus course. Apply at
www.hawaii.edu/dl/talent.

When is TALENT? TALENT 101, the online course, is scheduled to begin
on June 1 and end at midnight on June 30. The hands-on workshop is
scheduled as follows:

Faculty who teach classes over the Internet have access to WebCT, a course
management tool supported by ITS. Currently, approximately 200 faculty
use WebCT to either teach their course entirely online or as a resource to
enhance their on-campus course.

Dr. Barbara McLain, Associate Professor of the UHM Music Department,
uses WebCT to teach her Foundations of Music Education class online. It
has been recently announced that she is one of the 19 Exemplary Course
Winners, selected from a list of thousands by WebCT's Project
Collaborators. Barbara began her adventure in online teaching by
attending the Spring 1998 TALENT series. The knowledge she learned there,
along with some help from the staff of the then Distance Learning and
Instructional Technology staff (see article above on reorganization within
ITS), gave her the foundation on which to develop her own online course.
Barbara is currently teaching another online music education course, with
11 students scattered across three islands and one in Indiana.
Congratulations Barbara!